San Diego hits clean-air milestone

State ARB expected to approve ozone-attainment plan Thursday

Air regulators will look at cutting emissions from airliners at San Diego International Airport and ships in the bay in the next wave to combat unhealthful ozone at the ground level.
— John Gibbins / John Gibbins/Union-Tribune

Air regulators will look at cutting emissions from airliners at San Diego International Airport and ships in the bay in the next wave to combat unhealthful ozone at the ground level.
— John Gibbins / John Gibbins/Union-Tribune

San Diego County has achieved a milestone in its quest for cleaner air, reducing unhealthy ozone to the lowest levels ever despite steadily growing numbers of people and vehicles.

As a result, the region will soon be declared in compliance with 1997 federal ozone standards for the first time, heading off any threats of sanctions. Cleaner cars and cleaner fuels are receiving most of the credit.

“Obviously, better air means better breathing for those of us who live here,” said Debra Kelley, American Lung Association director of programs and advocacy in San Diego County.

Naturally occurring ozone itself is beneficial, forming an upper-atmosphere shield from the sun’s dangerous ultraviolet rays. The problem is at ground level. That’s where tailpipe emissions — mostly volatile organic compounds and oxides of nitrogen — react to form ozone.

Brewed with heat and sunlight, the pollution mix triggers health problems as minor as an annoying cough or chest congestion to as serious as causing premature deaths associated with heart or lung diseases.

Declining ground ozone levels are unquestionably good news. But the cheering is tempered somewhat because the county remains out of compliance with tougher, more current standards. Moreover, it will face stricter demands when the federal Environmental Protection Agency adopts a plan to require even lower levels as part of its 2014 ozone reduction objectives.

That will likely force the county to become even more aggressive toward the so-called “under-regulated” pollution sources, from cruise ships to airplanes. It also means the county will be under more pressure to provide residents with a wider choice of travel options, from buses to bikeways to van pools.

“We’re basically at half-time,” said explained Robert Reider, planning manager at the county Air Pollution Control District. “It shows our game plan is working. We’re winning the war on smog but we have to keep pushing.”

The San Diego County Board of Supervisors, acting as the Air Pollution Control District board, Wednesday certified that the region has attained its 1997 ozone level target. In doing so, the action clears the way for the California Air Resources Board in a meeting Thursday to petition the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to re-designate the region as having met the goal.

Those steps by themselves will not ease any regulations, particularly since the state and federal governments set most of the rules, Reider said.

Supervisor Ron Roberts, who also sits on the state air board, voted for designating the county as being in attainment. “We know the federal government is going to raise the bar,” he said. “But that is OK. We are up to the challenge. Cleaner air benefits everyone.”

Business remains wary about the challenges posed by tougher regulations, but believes the goals can be achieved if local air-quality regulators continue to work collaboratively with industry like they have done in the past, said Jack Monger, executive director of the Coronado-based Industrial Environmental Association.

“New standards are always a concern. The question is how do we get there … in a way that doesn’t kill business,” he said.

Monger called the latest news evidence that regulators and business can work together as long as the county’s approach is less to dictate and more along the lines of “here are the new standards — now how can we make this work?”

The Port of San Diego, while responsible for just a fraction of the ozone pollution, has been implementing a number of regulations that should help meet future standards, said Tanya Castaneda, a port spokeswoman.

The port already requires cruise ships to shut down diesel engines and plug into electrical power to cut emissions. That rule will go into effect for container and cargo ships at the 10th Avenue Marine Terminal in 2014, she said.

The statistics substantiate the county’s improvement. In 1990, the county exceeded federal standards for 96 days. At the time, its population was 2.5 million, and cars were on the road for 65 million miles per day. Ten years later, the number of violation days plummeted to 16, even though the population swelled to 2.8 million and vehicles were driven nearly 75 million miles each day. Last year, the region exceeded its ozone levels on just three days, despite growth to 3.2 million residents and 8.7 million vehicle miles being driven daily.

Ozone levels are at the peak during the warmer, sunnier months, generally from April through October. Emissions are measured at different locations and averaged out over time.

The county’s ozone levels have been declining, to 81 parts per billion this year. While that’s under the 1997 standard — 84 parts per billion — it still exceeds the latest federal goal of 75.

The county has a tougher road ahead. Federal regulators are expected to adopt even lower levels in 2014.

“They’ll be moving the goal posts,” Reider said. “It’s going to take an awful lot of emission reductions over the next decade or two” to keep pace.

A large share of the anticipated reductions will occur as motorists continue to move toward more fuel-efficient cars and as zero-emission vehicles grow in popularity.

“Will the fleet turnover be enough? I don’t know. But it will move us in the right direction,” Reider said.

The state’s stringent standards on greenhouse gas emissions, which concentrate on reducing the amount of fossil fuels like gasoline that is burned, will also contribute to minimizing ozone pollution. The state has also taken steps to cut ozone-forming pollutants used to make consumer products, architectural coatings and pesticides, he said.

Nevertheless, that may not be enough. The county, Reider said, may have to turn to other mobile sources “that are traditionally under-regulated.” That means ships and planes.

Guidance will also be sought from the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG), which plays a large role in air quality through its funding and planning for transit projects, Reider said.

To accomplish that, SANDAG relies on funding a mix of programs ranging from van pools to bike paths to car pool lanes to help reduce pollution as well as congestion, she said.

However, SANDAG this week was told by a San Diego County Superior Court judge that its 2050 transportation plan did not go far enough in cutting greenhouse gas emissions. That plan may have to be rewritten to speed up programs to woo motorists out of their vehicles.

Kelley, the lung association director, said planners will have to look at limiting urban sprawl, developing better mass transit and generally making it easier for residents to leave their car keys at home.

A region can be penalized for not complying, a remote possibility. Federal regulators could go as far as cutting off certain transportation funds and imposing even tougher limits on business, Reider said.